Lavers cruise continues – updated March 22

Downloading pictures takes an inordinately long time, so we are adding the pictures as we can. Please check back from time to time to see those that have been added.

February 6: Staffan and Eva Kihl join us at 9:00 for our now traditional breakfast onboard – croissants and baguette, yoghurt and cereal, juice and coffee. They have been on the island for several days and have rented a car. One of our propane tanks is empty and we are told by the folks at the marina that we must go to Jarry, some miles away across the bay, to get them filled. Staffan drives us to Jarry where we find what we half expected – everything is closed for carnival. Same story at the big Cora supermarket. We give up, and decide to take advantage of the car and tour the island. We drive into the national park on Basse Terre, and first visit a nice waterfall accessible by a paved stone walkway. Lots of tourists are there splashing in the pool at the foot of the fall. We drive on and find an open air restaurant high up in the mountains. Lunch is OK, but the view is impressive. There is an elevated wire nearby, and we see the occasional adventurer slide by on a harness. After lunch we drive down to the west coast, then northward to Deshaies. Eva and Staffan had dinner there the day after we left, so we are all familiar with the town. We stop for post card shopping, then continue on around the north side of Basse Terre and return to the marina just about dusk. After the big lunch, dinner is cheese and red wine.

February 7: Staffan and Larry are up early and head back to Jarry for propane. Well, the French are always French. They have their own connection system for propane, and it doesn’t fit our American tank. We ask about adapters, and are greeted with a gallic shrug of the shoulders “je suis desolee, monsieur”. Meanwhile, the ladies have walked to Cora and provisioned to their hearts content. It is a really well stocked supermarche. Staffan returns the car and we have a late breakfast. Since we now have different crew, we have to clear out with customs. Our papers are not quite in order (our application for an extension of our documentation has taken longer than expected in Washington, and the certificate has not yet caught up with us). The French do not recognize state registrations, only Federal documentation. Although I have the application for extension with me, the customs agent is quite unsympathetic. “No good for France, monsieur.” I am silent for a moment. He sighs disgustedly and stamps the papers to let us leave the country. We leave, a little nervous about what will happen when we get to Martinique. The downwind sail to Les Iles des Saintes is boisterous, but pretty quick. We average around seven knots. The passage was topped off by a 35 knot rain squall that mercifully lasted only about 20 minutes. Fortunately we saw it coming and had reduced sail in preparation. An unexpected bonus is that Staffan is an excellent sailor. Although we have known Eva since she was a nanny for our children, we have only met Staffan a few times before this week. Approaching the harbor we are assaulted by about a dozen Hobie cats – the local sailing school is out in full force. The harbor at Bourg des Saintes on Terre d’en Haut is very picturesque and very popular. We are forced to anchor near the commercial dock where it is a little rollier than we would prefer. Eva and Staffan prepare a wonderful steak dinner with a couscous salad. Elisabeth is ecstatic about not having to prepare dinner for a week. Eva and Staffan are both in the restaurant business, and their culinary skills are amazing.

Breakfast in the marina at Pointe au Pitre

Singoalla at the marina at Pte au Pitre

There are some pretty wild sailing craft out there

Sailing school at les Saintes

We enjoy a well deserved libation after the crossing to les Saintes
February 8: Eva and Staffan go into town to buy the day’s croissants and baguette. After breakfast, we move Singoalla to the west end of the island, behind Pain du Sucre (sugarloaf, which the point resembles). We feel the need for some exercise, so we go ashore and walk to the highest peak on the little island – about 320 meters in altitude. This is a typical volcanic island, very steep with dramatic views in all directions. The harbor seems very far away from the summit. The only sour note on the hike is the town dump, amazingly placed on a very steep slope and burning very fragrantly. We have to walk past the dumping place. On our way down we see the Wind Surf, one of the cruise ships with sails originally conceived by Karl Andren, approaching the harbor. We lunch at a little waterfront restaurant right by where the passengers are arriving from the cruise ship – salad nicoise or quiche. We enjoy classifying the passengers according to the scheme reported to us by a charter boat captain in the Virgin Islands: overfed, newly wed, and nearly dead. After lunch, Staffan and Larry walk up to the old Fort Napoleon overlooking the harbor from the north side while the ladies window shop. We get to the fort 2 hours after the museum is closed. By the time we return to the boat, we feel we have earned a beer, so we stop at the Hotel Bois Joli for a Carib, the popular Caribbean brew. Wine and cheese for dinner, then, as usual, early to bed.

Bourg des Saintes from le Chameau

Sweaty but happy on le Chameau

Bourg des Saintes from le Chameau

Can you find the airport (far right)?

We just liked this picture

We relax at Hotel Bois Joli

Wind Surf arrives

February 9: At breakfast we are forced to eat day-old bread, which feels like a cultural error on these French islands. We start early to sail to Dominica, about 20 miles. We encounter big waves, around 12 feet, a somewhat confused sea, and winds of 20-25 knots, gusting to 35. It is not a comfortable ride, but once again we average over 7 knots and are in protected waters in only about 2 ½ hours. It is amazing how quiet it can be in the lee of the islands when it is blowing so hard in the passages. Prince Rupert Bay is one of the most protected anchorages in the Leeward Islands, and Portsmouth is a very welcoming small town. There is a well-developed system of “river guides”, young men who adopt your boat and provide everything from shuttle service to customs, moorings, fresh fruit and, above all, tours to interesting places. Martin, who answers on VHF channel 16 to “Providence”, was recommended both by the cruising guide and by other boats we have met. We call him while still a couple of miles from the harbor. He shows us to a mooring when we arrive and takes Larry ashore in his boat and drives to customs for clearing in. It is a very simple process in Dominica, and we will not have to clear out if we leave with the same crew on board within 14 days. In the afternoon Martin rows us up the Indian River in the national park, describing the flora and fauna that we see (that includes a pretty good sized iguana), and talks to us about the history of the area. Among other things, he shows us reproductions of the grass-roofed houses that the various Indian tribes constructed. He cuts open a fallen coconut so we can taste the fresh coconut milk and the meat of fresh coconut. He also makes little birds as souvenirs for Elisabeth and Eva out of palm fronds he picks along the way. It is truly a magical tour. In the evening Elisabeth struggles with the Internet over a beer at the Purple Turtle while Larry and Staffan go in search of the town’s lone ATM so we can get some EC (Eastern Caribbean) dollars, and we finish with a good dinner that is almost what we ordered at Big Papa’s. We fall asleep to the music (?) coming from Big Papa’s weekly Saturday night party.

Can you see the iguana?

Bananas grow wild and are extensively cultivated too

The Indian River is frequently canopied by the vegetation

Fantastic root structures on the blood wood trees

Martin is one fantastic guide

Pretty view up river

White crab

Martin prepares to make a snack of fresh coconut

The beauty of Dominica is breathtaking

Martin makes a souvenir hummingbird for Elisabeth

February 10: Sunday morning. An early breakfast, because Martin has agreed to pick us up at 8:00 for a tour of the northern part of the island. He is accompanied by Dylan, who will be our tour guide for the day, driving Martin’s van. We are more and more amazed by the astounding topography of this island (it was formed by no less than eight volcanoes, some of which still show some signs of activity), and almost the entire island goes virtually straight up or straight down. As we drive along, Dylan stops the van every few hundred yards to get out and show us something fascinating. The first stop is a dugout canoe (made using hot coals and water from a single tree) still in use by a local fisherman. We see growing wild bananas, nutmeg, grapefruit, oranges, cashews, vanilla, mangoes, guava, plantains, and a relative of the raspberry, as well as, of course, coconuts. The island is reported to have 365 rivers, and a good deal of it, especially on the west side, is rain forest. We stop at a “cold Soufriere”, gases smelling of sulfur dioxide bubbling up through mud flats in the bottom of an old volcano crater. The water is only lukewarm, a surprise to those who are accustomed to thinking of geysers as being scalding hot. We see how resourceful the farmers can be, growing their produce in places that would be considered impossible to cultivate in other areas. The island has 50% unemployment, and is almost desperately poor. Agriculture provides the bulk of the island’s income. Bananas have been their principal export crop, but the banana market was destroyed for them when the EU made an agreement with some South American countries. They are searching for a new staple crop, and struggling along in the meantime. Nevertheless, the people we see are neat and clean. We see people walking to church in their Sunday best. Some of them are well over a mile from the church when we see them. The roads we traveled were very narrow and very steep. Dylan honked before each blind curve to warn pedestrians and oncoming traffic that we were there. In a number of places we go along ridge tops, with the land falling away steeply on both sides. Then suddenly we realize we are in a farm, with cabbage and tomatoes planted on the shoulder of the road and yams and “dasheen” on the steep slopes. Dylan takes us to Chaudiere Falls, where after a steep hike of about ½ mile, we swim in the pool formed by the falls. We have brought shampoo, and we look like a scene from South Pacific. We have a late lunch in a tiny little restaurant in Calabishie – all native grown foods and excellent. We see several places where scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean 2 were shot, and meet a number of Dylan’s friends preparing stewed goat over a wood fire at their weekly Sunday afternoon gathering by an abandoned mill that was one of the Pirates sites. We also meet a lady who is cleaning and drying arrowroot for sale. We arrive back at Portsmouth about 5:00. Dinner is ham and melon with other local fruits.

This dugout boat was made from one log and is still in active use

Very young bananas

Typical Dominica coastal view

The pool at Chaudiere Falls

Raw nutmeg - the brown seed is what is used

North coast of Dominica

Papayas (I think)

Vanilla is a vine that grows wild here

Bromeliads abound

Eva collecting shells

Cold Soufriere - bubbles from the volcano

Bananas grow wild and are extensively cultivated too

Dylan demonstrates the right way to open a coconut

Elisabeth samples coconut milk

Does this remind you of South Pacific?

Do you recognize this mill from Pirates of the Caribbean 2?

Dylan's friends are cooking up their weekly goat stew

The weekly Sunday party

Elisabeth and Larry enjoy Red Rocks on the north coast of Dominica








Kids love to make coconut shell boats and set them on fire










Arrowroot drying in preparation for sale











Arrowroot before processing

February 11: You could call today a lay day. We walk around in town, buy produce from the street vendors, then walk to the south end of town in search of a restaurant. Staffan tries to buy gas for the dinghy, but both stations in town are temporarily out. At one of them, the car in front of Staffan took the last of the fuel. The Sisters Guest House is run by 2 German sisters who have been on the island for over 20 years. In a typical island twist of events, their two cooks are both off on maternity leave, so the kitchen is temporarily closed. We have a beer, then go to the food court at the medical school next door. The food looks interesting, but there is no place to sit. We take a bus back into town and have lunch at Big Papa’s. On the way back to the dinghy while searching for a bakery Larry buys a mystery island sauce. Typical of the friendliness we encounter here, the vendor takes us two blocks to the bakery and persuades them to open so we can get fresh bread. Staffan has conceived a way to fix our ailing refrigeration pump, but we can’t find exactly the right parts in town. Martin says that Igna can fix about anything and sends him to us. He takes the pump with him with a good understanding of Staffan’s idea, Staffan and Eva make salad nicoise for dinner and as usual we retire early and happy.

A 1995 hurricane did some serious damage to the Portsmouth waterfront

Elisabeth enjoys talking to her mother on Skype in Portsmouth harbor






Dominicans are rightfully proud of their local brew

February 12: We plan to leave for Roseau today, but the weather forecast is so daunting that we decide to stay another day. Ever since we first arrived in the Caribbean we have heard about the daily weather forecast by Chris Parker, but have been unable to locate it on the SSB. Today we finally do, and it scares us into inactivity. Chris says that the conditions in the Eastern Caribbean are the worst he has seen in several years, winds averaging 25 knots and gusting to as much as 40 knots. Twelve foot seas and higher in the passages. He says it won’t calm down much for several days, perhaps not until next week. We email Helge Alten, who is to join us next week in Martinique, that we don’t know whether we will be able to get there or not. We go ashore to find Igna to pick up the repaired pump, and Eva and Staffan buy ferry tickets in case we can’t leave in time for their flight. We then call Martin to say that we will be using his mooring one more day. He suggests a snorkeling trip to Rollo Head just south of Prince Rupert Bay, and we gladly accept. We see lots of sea fan and other types of coral, sea urchins, and many varieties of fish including some we had not seen before. Eva and Staffan prepare a truly exceptional Gaspacho soup for dinner, then we watch Gosford Park at the boat’s film studio (the lap top). Miraculously we stay awake until after 11:00.

Staffan is an amazing chef. Eva relaxes for this meal

February 13: The weather forecast isn’t much better today, but we decide to move the boat to Roseau, the island’s capital city at the south end of the island. This will put us in a better position when we decide to cross to Martinique. We put a double reef in the main in preparation for a windy trip. We find that the forecast of weather in the passages between the islands bears almost no resemblance to the weather close in the lee of the islands. We actually power most of the way due to lack of wind. At Roseau we pick up a mooring at the Fort Young Hotel. “Sea Cat” comes out to greet us and offer services similar to those we received from Martin in Portsmouth. We tell him we will call him tomorrow if we decide to stay in Roseau. We are able to fill the dinghy’s gas tank right next to the dinghy dock, then go to the hotel to pay for the mooring. It is a very fine hotel very interestingly created in an old British fort. We decide to stay for lunch and all try callaloo soup for the first time. It is really good. A short provisioning trip downtown convinces us that the best parts of Dominica are outside the city. We return to the boat, and Staffan and Larry install the repaired pump. Hooray, it works as it is supposed to with the help of a little Teflon tape to account for a size difference between hose and nipple. Sea Cloud, a cruising windjammer comes in during the afternoon and anchors near us. Sunset is a pretty sight silhouetting the ship. Dinner consists of fruit salad and bread, and really hits the spot. We roll a lot during the night and resolve to move the boat to another place tomorrow whether or not we decide to try for Martinique.

Roseau is a mixture of ruins, rebuilt structures and new










At least the rain is warm and the seas flat in the lee of Domnica

Sea Quest at sunset in Roseau harbor

Elisabeth enjoys lunch at the Fort Young Hotel

February 14: We are getting low on both fuel and water. There is a nearby fuel dock, but we don’t want to risk damaging Singoalla in the swells that continue to roll in. We transfer the diesel from one of our Jerry jugs to the boat. Staffan takes the dinghy in to fill a couple of five gallon containers with drinking water in case we need it, and to buy today’s bread. The weather forecast is marginally better than yesterday, slightly lower wind gusts, and perhaps slightly lower seas. We now face a Hobson’s choice. If we don’t leave today, Staffan and Eva will have to leave for Martinique by ferry, and Elisabeth and Larry will have to make the crossing with no other crew on board. That is very OK, but it means that we will wait a little longer to find the right weather window. Helge Alten arriving from France on Monday will have trouble getting to us because the next ferry going from Martinique to Dominica is Thursday. We decide to stick our nose around the corner and see how bad it is. Like yesterday, the weather is pretty mild for the five miles in the lee of the island, but that all changes as soon as we get beyond Scotts head. The seas are about the same height as they were between Les Saintes and Dominica, but they seem to be more organized and to come from the same direction. With the double reefed main and a little jib rolled out, we are not too uncomfortable, so we elect to go ahead. We have about 22 miles of open water, and we cover it on a close reach at about 7 knots. Everyone agrees that it is not as uncomfortable as the previous two passages. We meet about 10 boats going north, but only see one other boat making the trip south. Of course, no one wants to go below to make lunch until after we are in the lee of Martinique, so we are safely at anchor in St. Pierre before lunch is ready. We are very salty, so we use the jug water to wash our hair and faces at the transom. Then we have open faced egg salad sandwiches on French bread with a little beer to wash it down. Who ever heard of eating so well on a 40 foot sail boat? Today is Alexandra’s birthday. We are not allowed to call until after her exam was finished, so we call her after lunch. We go ashore and wander around a little in this town that was totally destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Pelee in 1902. 30,000 people died, and many of the ruins are still visible. It was an unusual eruption, involving hot gases blasting through the town instead of a lava flow. Everyone died instantly, and most of the wood in the town as well as ships in the harbor were incinerated. We decide to have dinner in a small restaurant named Tamaya, after one of the ships that sank. Three had shark for a main course, and one had stingray. Unusual for us, but excellent. Back to the boat and lights out about 11:00. We are getting used to these late night parties.

Eva swims every day

Elisabeth likes to drive when the seas are calm










The eruption of Mt Pelee killed all but one of the almost 30,000 in the town at the time of the eruption

February 15: This was a lazy day in St. Pierre After breakfast we go into town to do laundry and confirm Staffan’s and Eva’s travel reservations. We buy massive amounts of fruits and vegetables at the market, then wander around the streets a little in search of an attractive place for lunch. We give up and return to the boat for sandwiches and fruit prepared by the Kihls. A lazy afternoon of reading is followed by a farewell dinner on board, pork “carre” in a special sauce, accompanied by a couscous and fruit salad. Fresh pineapple over sherbet for dessert. A feast fit for royalty!

Singoalla in St Pierre at the center of the rainbow

February 16: We have our traditional breakfast on board at St. Pierre. The forecast is for lighter wind (about 15-18 knots). Staffan and Eva had planned to take a taxi from St. Pierre to the airport, but decide to take advantage of the nice weather and sail with us to Fort de France. We begin with a full main and genoa about 9:30. Winds are quite variable behind the high island, and Staffan gets a workout keeping the sails in trim. Winds pick up some as we round into Baie de Fort de France, and we roll in a good bit of the genoa. As the water remains flat, it is a very nice sail close hauled to Pointe des Negres. We have noticed a slight tear in the genoa by the upper spreader patch, so we drop sails and motor the last mile into Baie des Flamands. We go ashore with the Kihls shortly after noon and confirm that customs (along with practically everything else in F de F) is closed on Saturday afternoon. We find a nice, quiet restaurant in a small hotel that is open and have a final lunch together. Staffan and Eva leave by taxi for the airport, and Larry and Elisabeth go in search of an open grocery store. Le Casino (!) fills the bill. We spend a quiet evening reading and nibbling on cheese and sipping wine to quiet jazz on the stereo. Life isn’t too bad!

The harbor at Fort de France, pop 130,000, is not exactly bucolic

February 17: Elisabeth prepares a nice pancake breakfast which we enjoy in the cockpit. Larry discovers that the refrigeration is off, presumably since yesterday morning when it was turned off to listen to Chris Parker’s weather forecast. The compressor interferes with SSB reception, especially when signals are weak. Since this is Sunday, we assume that customs are closed. We decide to motor 2 ½ miles to Pointe du Bout for water and fuel, and perhaps return to customs tomorrow. We pick up a mooring – the only one vacant – off Bakoua Marina and go ashore to look around. We take a short walk around the Pointe and find that most of the shops are closed. There is a good selection of small restaurants, and we choose the one at the marina for lunch. It is a good choice. We have developed a real weakness for the French entrecotes. We see a sign at the marina that says that they offer clearance service. We assume this means that they will take our documents to customs, but when we ask we are referred to a computer in the marina office. We discover that we can clear in on line. We enter all the information on the customs web site, print out the clearance, and that’s it. The guide book stated adamantly that one should not go to the French islands unless your papers are complete and perfect. Times have changed with the adoption of new technology. Ah for the Internet is not as successful. We can see a network from the boat, the local Sofitel hotel, but we don’t have the key. We get conflicting information from the mairina/restaurant, the net of which is that we will get nowhere today. We spend a quiet afternoon reading and updating the blog. After the big lunch, a dinner of melon, baguette and cheese is just right.